0:00:12.183,0:00:15.271 ARLENE SHECHET: Clay is extremely elemental. 0:00:15.271,0:00:19.380 There is nothing about it that is attractive[br]or interesting. 0:00:19.380,0:00:21.668 It’s just very, very basic. 0:00:24.400,0:00:31.539 The lack of beauty in its raw state is important to me, 0:00:31.539,0:00:33.441 because it gives me great freedom. 0:00:34.521,0:00:37.271 Because it has no character, I can make anything. 0:00:38.425,0:00:41.020 It’s just there to be invented. 0:00:43.156,0:00:44.610 So it’s called wedging. 0:00:45.739,0:00:48.513 It’s a clay term for kneading. 0:00:51.779,0:00:53.520 If you learn how to do it, 0:00:53.520,0:00:57.668 it rocks back and forth and it forms this spiral. 0:00:58.601,0:01:00.270 It’s quite cool looking. 0:01:01.596,0:01:05.314 I’m not a person dedicated to a material. 0:01:05.560,0:01:09.170 But I have dedicated the last six or seven years 0:01:09.170,0:01:10.461 to working in clay. 0:01:22.835,0:01:30.145 Clay is one of these materials that permits[br]one to be both in control and out of control. 0:01:30.956,0:01:33.648 It’s like a real conversation with the work. 0:01:34.336,0:01:39.860 One of the great things about making art[br]is that you get to make things 0:01:39.860,0:01:43.288 and then listen to those things and[br]pay attention to those things. 0:01:59.100,0:02:01.467 I always wanted to be in a factory. 0:02:01.909,0:02:06.118 I would tell my parents that I wanted to be[br]either a farmer or a factory worker. 0:02:07.002,0:02:10.190 My parents completely blew me off with that one. 0:02:11.148,0:02:14.650 Growing up in New York, you’re sort of seeing everything finished. 0:02:15.239,0:02:17.870 You don’t see anything being made. 0:02:17.870,0:02:20.121 So I wanted to know where did everything come[br]from. 0:02:31.268,0:02:34.002 - I think I’d better cover this again. 0:02:39.477,0:02:42.980 If I add a piece of clay too soon, it collapses. 0:02:42.980,0:02:45.334 Too late, it won’t attach. 0:02:46.332,0:02:48.490 There’s a perfect moment to do everything. 0:02:48.490,0:02:52.389 And then when the moment passes it’s gone[br]and there’s nothing to do about it. 0:02:53.788,0:02:55.870 Intellectually and maybe spiritually, 0:02:55.870,0:02:58.670 it’s an interesting thing to work with. 0:03:24.401,0:03:26.886 I build four or five things at the same time. 0:03:27.549,0:03:30.090 All of these pieces are at the beginning. 0:03:30.090,0:03:36.339 So these pieces will probably be much larger[br]and have other elements 0:03:36.339,0:03:37.815 that I don’t know about yet. 0:03:57.212,0:04:04.650 Yesterday, I figured out that I needed to[br]add some parts to this, 0:04:04.650,0:04:08.390 cause this is just going to be woven coils 0:04:08.390,0:04:12.027 and those just have to be added a couple of[br]at a time. 0:04:26.120,0:04:31.776 I have these pins to remind me that these[br]haven’t been joined, 0:04:32.414,0:04:35.523 because sometimes I could just forget. 0:04:39.820,0:04:44.410 I was thinking, I have to have a real appetite[br]for ugly. 0:04:45.589,0:04:49.715 There are so many points where this thing[br]is just hideous 0:04:50.255,0:04:52.734 and yet I have to believe in it. 0:04:53.293,0:04:55.261 And I have to go on with it. 0:04:55.727,0:04:58.796 But it might be something good. 0:05:11.170,0:05:13.046 Cube next. 0:05:14.470,0:05:24.833 And uh, in about fifteen minutes we’ll pour[br]out the extra slip that you see on top. 0:05:25.840,0:05:32.063 And the plaster will allow the things to become[br]dry clay then 0:05:32.750,0:05:34.555 when we take it out in a couple of hours. 0:05:40.767,0:05:46.165 This is a slip cast mold of a firebrick. 0:05:46.165,0:05:50.951 And you can see the mold picks up every single[br]part of the firebrick. 0:05:50.951,0:05:54.880 Every nuance, when they’re wet like this, 0:05:54.880,0:06:01.987 I sometimes take the opportunity to, you know,[br]do something with it. 0:06:02.920,0:06:06.310 If this thing did not have the air pressing out, 0:06:06.310,0:06:07.310 it would just collapse. 0:06:07.310,0:06:08.750 It wouldn’t hold all these forms. 0:06:08.750,0:06:11.449 Or if it was solid, you couldn’t do it at all. 0:06:11.449,0:06:14.246 This is already on a kiln shelf, right? 0:06:19.500,0:06:26.873 The really out of control part is[br]this thing that I slave over or I play with, 0:06:27.610,0:06:34.639 will dry for several months and then[br]it will go into a kiln of over 2,000 degrees 0:06:34.639,0:06:35.900 and that’s nuts. 0:06:35.900,0:06:38.259 You know that..... 0:06:38.259,0:06:40.469 And then all bets are off. 0:06:42.851,0:06:47.456 I come in here and pick from the tree of glaze. 0:06:48.901,0:06:54.630 I have this reference book that has[br]photographs of every work and 0:06:54.630,0:06:56.529 then notes on what I did. 0:06:58.837,0:07:02.130 If one glaze is under another glaze or on[br]top of it, 0:07:02.130,0:07:06.415 it will be chemically completely different[br]and fire completely different. 0:07:11.350,0:07:16.868 We fire with a computer to a very exact degree[br]based on what the glazes are. 0:07:18.090,0:07:20.645 This piece has gone through five or six firings. 0:07:22.020,0:07:25.587 It’ll be a couple of days of firing and[br]then 0:07:25.587,0:07:27.277 two and a half days of cooling. 0:07:32.949,0:07:35.220 The fact that you have to make things hollow 0:07:35.220,0:07:37.995 is something I’m attracted to. 0:07:39.370,0:07:42.871 This mushy substance becomes structural. 0:07:43.730,0:07:45.270 You can push up against it, 0:07:45.270,0:07:50.770 you can create form in a way that something[br]that’s solid could never create form. 0:07:54.600,0:07:57.381 Okay, we’re going to load this in pretty[br]soon. 0:07:57.970,0:08:01.729 If it’s a completely solid thing then it[br]can’t be fired. 0:08:08.088,0:08:17.440 One day I just felt how happy I was here and[br]how I was actually getting to live my fantasy. 0:08:17.440,0:08:21.139 That being an artist, working in a studio, 0:08:21.139,0:08:26.440 I had created both a farm and a factory. 0:08:26.440,0:08:28.320 And when I thought about it, 0:08:28.320,0:08:33.345 the essence of that desire was really[br]wanting to know how things were made. 0:08:53.488,0:08:56.549 I’m always saying yes to new situations. 0:08:56.549,0:09:00.333 If I keep creating a closed system, 0:09:00.579,0:09:06.320 then I’m not uncomfortable enough to push[br]some boundary. 0:09:07.376,0:09:08.640 -Here we go. 0:09:09.278,0:09:13.361 I just want to be pushing boundaries [br]and solving problems. 0:09:20.916,0:09:22.732 I was invited to Meissen. 0:09:22.732,0:09:24.629 It was very, very open-ended. 0:09:24.850,0:09:28.860 I was given a studio and I didn’t have to[br]define a project. 0:09:28.860,0:09:31.060 I didn’t have to say what I was going to do. 0:09:31.060,0:09:35.331 And I didn’t have to design something that[br]would be part of their production. 0:09:36.510,0:09:39.220 Ninety-nine percent of the things there are cast. 0:09:39.220,0:09:41.019 So working with molds was something 0:09:41.019,0:09:45.722 that I hadn’t incorporated into[br]my regular clay practice. 0:09:46.581,0:09:49.700 The infrastructure of how things were made there 0:09:49.700,0:09:54.410 has edged its way into my vocabulary 0:09:54.410,0:09:59.832 in terms of the actual sculptures that[br]I found myself making for the RISD show. 0:10:02.091,0:10:07.019 What I brought to Meissen was everything I knew. 0:10:07.019,0:10:08.808 I just wanted to let it rip. 0:10:10.724,0:10:14.904 I love every kind of industrial architecture. 0:10:15.370,0:10:17.739 Industry in general, tools. 0:10:18.230,0:10:22.200 What some person might think of as[br]mechanized and frightening, 0:10:22.200,0:10:25.660 I think of as mechanized and fascinating. 0:10:26.495,0:10:29.590 It’s also a very particular thing at a place[br]like 0:10:29.590,0:10:33.634 the Meissen factory which began in 1710. 0:10:34.480,0:10:38.709 The origins of the whole porcelain world are[br]right there. 0:10:38.709,0:10:43.843 That was the first place in Europe[br]where they figured out how to make porcelain. 0:10:45.409,0:10:52.208 Inside this place is a factory,[br]but dedicated to the handmade, 0:10:52.330,0:10:59.868 to this vigilant craftsmanship that in[br]many ways I am the antithesis of. 0:11:02.250,0:11:12.918 Borrowing from their insane need for perfection,[br]empowered my desire for imperfection. 0:11:14.980,0:11:19.520 I walked around the factory endlessly and[br]I realized 0:11:19.520,0:11:22.013 that the thing I really loved were the molds. 0:11:22.750,0:11:26.420 The mold forms were way closer to my aesthetic than 0:11:26.420,0:11:30.200 the things that were coming out of those molds 0:11:30.200,0:11:33.380 that were the Meissen traditional objects. 0:11:36.130,0:11:43.420 I ended up making a proposal that I would[br]make molds of their molds 0:11:43.420,0:11:51.815 and cast in porcelain slip my molds creating[br]porcelain versions of their industrial objects. 0:11:53.701,0:11:55.060 When I cast in their molds, 0:11:55.060,0:12:00.010 I left all of the seams and[br]all of the little signs and symbols that 0:12:00.010,0:12:06.041 indicated how to put the piece together and[br]would never been seen outside of the factory. 0:12:07.760,0:12:11.890 I cast in the signatures as sort of a celebration[br]of the worker. 0:12:11.890,0:12:15.334 The workers, when they saw them,[br]they would just laugh. 0:12:16.390,0:12:22.087 I was taking bits and pieces of everything[br]that was true to Meissen, 0:12:22.087,0:12:27.020 historically and everything that was[br]true to me as a contemporary artist 0:12:27.020,0:12:30.969 working in an 18th Century factory[br]and try to put it together. 0:13:07.725,0:13:10.211 ANDREW MOLLEUR: This is the largest thing[br]up here too. 0:13:10.211,0:13:11.727 ARLENE SHECHET: Yeah, right, right in here. 0:13:13.568,0:13:16.100 I think really close in there is great. 0:13:18.432,0:13:19.387 I really like that. 0:13:20.222,0:13:22.460 It’s like coming from inside. 0:13:30.636,0:13:33.220 Okay, well undoubtedly we will fire it again. 0:13:34.840,0:13:39.796 But I might start, start to work with it. 0:13:48.954,0:13:50.701 I’m going to turn this around. 0:13:50.701,0:13:56.910 We needed to make scale versions of each sculpture[br]for the gallery. 0:13:57.450,0:14:06.410 Down here, I can very roughly approximate[br]the way I might see things as I enter the gallery. 0:14:06.649,0:14:08.910 I don’t want everything at the same height. 0:14:08.910,0:14:12.630 I don’t want too many things with metal[br]over there, 0:14:12.630,0:14:14.870 too many things with concrete over here. 0:14:14.870,0:14:19.864 So I’m balancing all of those concerns very,[br]very intentionally. 0:14:22.000,0:14:24.880 The complete piece is not just the ceramic. 0:14:24.880,0:14:30.220 The complete piece is something that allows[br]the ceramic 0:14:30.220,0:14:35.010 to live in the world at the height I want, 0:14:35.010,0:14:38.850 in the shape I want, and in the material combination[br]that I want. 0:14:38.850,0:14:40.251 And in the color I want. 0:14:41.380,0:14:43.720 What is referred to as the pedestal, 0:14:43.720,0:14:45.951 I sometimes call the architecture of the piece. 0:14:50.960,0:14:54.820 I have a real appreciation for how complex it is 0:14:54.820,0:14:57.600 to make something that is compelling 0:14:57.600,0:15:00.000 and that changes with every view. 0:15:01.330,0:15:08.100 That is an old-fashioned sculptural concern[br]that I love 0:15:08.100,0:15:11.170 and that I believe comes back to that thing of 0:15:11.170,0:15:13.957 people walking around the pieces in the gallery. 0:15:14.693,0:15:16.780 Sculpture creates movement. 0:15:17.640,0:15:20.920 I did in my early teaching improvisational[br]dance 0:15:20.920,0:15:25.934 with the students because I think it’s the[br]same thing. 0:15:37.081,0:15:40.781 Clay is a great three-dimensional drawing[br]material. 0:15:41.370,0:15:46.779 It leaves a record in the same way that[br]a drawing leaves a very direct record of the 0:15:46.779,0:15:47.770 artist’s hand. 0:15:55.529,0:15:59.858 The installation is the whole thing and that’s[br]a very big idea. 0:16:00.889,0:16:04.317 I think actually I’m an installation artist[br]who makes objects. 0:16:18.140,0:16:20.404 I want to make something more than an idea. 0:16:20.404,0:16:24.803 I don’t want anybody to be able to describe[br]the pieces too easily. 0:16:25.540,0:16:28.686 I want to make things that are more open-ended than that. 0:16:43.000,0:16:48.230 I want to make physical comedy and intellectual humor 0:16:48.230,0:16:51.650 that has a kind of visceral reaction 0:16:51.650,0:16:58.760 that ends up by creating some sort of complex feeling. 0:16:58.760,0:17:02.519 So that the reaction isn’t, I understand this, 0:17:02.519,0:17:06.552 the reaction is what is this and why?